New Planning Application For Southmoor Road Site

A planning application has now been submitted for the long-expected redevelopment of the former Hutchins & Green builders yard at 1A Southmoor Road.

This is to include renovation of the large canalside building (previously a joinery workshop) to form a large 5 bedroom house, plus demolition of most of the other buildings, to be replaced by a new two storey 4 bedroom house in the north east corner of the site (ie behind the houses on that side of Kingston Road).

The scheme has clearly been carefully considered and discussed with the Council in advance. There is reference to previous consultation with the neighbours. The architects leading the project are Wright and Wright who designed St John’s College’s new library and are working for St Edmund Hall on a new campus in Norham Gardens.

The end of Hutchins and Green marks the end of an era- Hutchins built a number of houses in Southmoor and Kingston Roads in Victorian times.

An application in 2004 for a larger number of smaller houses was withdrawn without approval being obtained.

This visual shows the proposed look of the renovated canalside building from the canal towpath is here

As walkers on the towpath will know, the building is currently in poor condition.

WMRA has not yet formed a view on the merits of the application or the design and would like to hear from residents. There is a lot of supporting information on the Council website if you are interested. The application number is 23/01895/FUL.

The planning team at WMRA are reviewing the detail of the submission to assess whether Walton Manor Residents Association wishes to comment on it. If you have any comments you can provide them via the Council website, or contact us. The closing date for comments is Monday 9th October.

Oxford Hub news

The Oxford Hub is moving from the Blackbird Leys Community Centre to a much bigger space with two huge rooms and a big enclosed garden. As a result, they are in need of lots of furniture and small bits to make the space welcoming.

Please email hello@oxfordhub.org if you think you can help and they will be in touch to arrange collection.

In particular they would be interested in:

• Sofas (with fire safety labels)
• Picnic Tables
• Round Tables
• Storage units / Bookcases
• Fold Up tables
• Stackable Chairs
• Plants!

The new Hub will be their main home but the space in Little Clarendon Street will continue to be busy with city centre projects. They have open hours 12-2 on Wednesdays if you ever fancy popping in for a cup of tea.
Church bells update at Oxford Centre for Mission StudiesIt has now been many months since the bells of the former SS Philip and James Parish Church were working. Dr Bendor Samuel has informed us that he has organised a visit from the clock repairer to deal with this and is assuring us that they will soon be mended.
Walton Manor RA We hope that you enjoy receiving our newsletter. If you know of any neighbours who would like to receive it and who currently are not on our mailing list, please ask them to contact us by email: waltonmanorra@gmail.com . The map below shows the streets that are covered by this residents association. Other associations in Jericho or St Margaret's cover other roads.